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series: the shadowhunter chronicles

So, I’ve seen this tag in a few places recently, and I wasn’t tagged for it, but I decided to do it anyway, since it’s Valentine’s Day, and it looked like fun (mostly the “fun” part, though). This tag was created by Anette from Anette Reads, and I first stumbled across it on Cátia’s blog, The Girl Who Read Too Much.

1) Your favourite book couple:

There are a lot of pairings that I really like, but I don’t really have any absolute favourites… My favourite pairing at any given time tends to be the one I liked most in whatever book I’m currently reading, or have just read and am obsessing over.

A few that have stuck with me, however: Vin & Elend from the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson; Celaena & Chaol from Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series; and, of course, Ron & Hermione from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, which I’m sure many people count among their OTPs. 😉

2) Your top 3 book boyfriends/girlfriends:

I… don’t really have any. ❓ There are a lot of characters in the books I read that I really love as love interests, but I’d rather ship them with other characters than with myself… I did at one point have the hugest crush on Briar from Tamora Pierce’s Emelan books, though. (Okay, maybe I still do. 😳 )

3) Imagine your favorite book couple. Who would propose, and how? (If there’s already been a proposal: who would be more into organising the wedding?)

Sticking with the couples I mentioned in question 1:

Vin & Elend – Elend, and Elend. Or at least, if they’d had a wedding in the conventional sense. 😉

Celaena & Chaol – Hmm… Chaol would propose, and I think they’d organise it together. Celaena would take charge of most of the aesthetic things – like where the wedding would be, how to decorate, and what the bridesmaids would wear, etc – while Chaol did the boring things like actually arranging these things. And vetoing Celaena’s more outrageous suggestions (or trying to, at least).

Ron & Hermione – I feel like Ron was probably the one who proposed, though not without significant prodding. And I expect that Hermione (and Molly!) did most of the work of actually planning the wedding.

4) Unpopular opinions time! Name a popular pairing you can’t stand.

I sense that this opinion will be very unpopular, but: Percy & Annabeth in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. 😳 I actually dislike most of the pairings in Rick Riordan’s books (with the surprising exception of Leo & Calypso in The Blood of Olympus); I just don’t think he writes romance very well…

I also really disliked the romance between Celaena & Rowan in Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (and not just because I’m a Chaolaena girl!). The dynamic between them (which was a big part of why I loved Heir of Fire so much), was just completely altered, and not for the better.

5) What’s your favorite and least favorite romance trope?

There are so many romantic tropes that it’s difficult to pick favourites, and I can like most tropes, if I feel they’re done well… But, in the interest of actually having an answer to this question… I’m quite fond of arranged marriages, and forbidden love, and I usually dislike insta-love and love triangles. I just come across them way too often.

6) Do you ship non-canon couples often? Name some if you do.

I actually sometimes get more invested in non-canon couples than in canon ones, because I put so much energy into rooting for them. Some of the ones I feel most strongly about (and have for a while) are: Sansa & Sandor (from A Song of Ice & Fire by George R.R. Martin); Arya & Gendry (also from ASoIaF); Will & Brân (from Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising sequence); Kuroko & Aomine (from the Kuroko no Basuke manga by Tadatoshi Fujimaki); and Gabriel & Nathan (from Sally Green’s Half Life trilogy).

7) Your opinion on love triangles. Go!

They’re over-done, and rarely done well (it’s usually really obvious who the main character is going to pick the whole way through).

8) Favourite and least favorite love triangle?

Favourite: Will, Tessa & Jem in Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices trilogy (the only really excellent love triangle that I can think of). Least favourite: Hmm…? Maybe Edward, Bella & Jacob from the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, though I don’t really consider that to be a proper love triangle, since Jacob obviously never had a chance with Bella. She even told him so. Repeatedly.

9) Sometimes romance just isn’t the way to go. Favorite friendship?

I really, really loved the friendship between Rowan & Celaena in Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas… The direction it took in Queen of Shadows was such a shame. 😦

10) What’s your favorite scene with your bookish OTP?

Vin & Elend – their first meeting at the ball in The Final Empire. So cute! XD

Celaena & Chaol – pretty much the whole of Crown of Midnight. Just… guh (*turns to goo inside*). There was also a really hilarious scene in The Assassin & the Underworld (one of the prequel novellas) where they met at a party, Celaena drunkenly hit on Dorian, and Chaol just stood there Not Approving – but none of them knew each other at that point, and even if they had, they were all in disguise…

This tag was originally created by Katytastic, and I wasn’t tagged to do it, but I thought it looked fun anyway – and since it’s Halloween, now feel like the perfect time to be celebrating some of my favourite supernatural creatures~ 😀 For those who don’t know, for this tag I’ll be picking (one of) my favourite books that feature each different type of creature (though I won’t always be telling you which character is the creature in question, for spoilery reasons). Enjoy!

A new favourite book of mine, which I am now taking every opportunity to mention. There are a few vampires that appear in this book, but the most important of them is Baz, the main character’s roommate, who is constantly (unconvincingly) denying what he is, since acknowledging it will probably result in him getting expelled.

2) Werewolf – The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater.

Probably the best werewolf series I’ve ever read (though I know a lot of people have problems with it ’cause it’s a bit insta-love-y), featuring an unusual twist on werewolf lore, where they actually transform because of the temperature, rather than the phases of the moon. Sam is the most adorable (and least spoilery) werewolf in the cast, but there are plenty more great ones that are introduced later on, too!

3) Zombie – Zombie-Loan by Peach-Pit.

The main character in this bizarre manga series has the unusual ability to see how close people are to dying when she looks at them without her glasses on – there will be a line around their neck, which gets darker and darker as they get closer to death… And one day she catches a glimpse of two of her schoolmates, and realises that they’re already dead. 😮 Thankfully for me (I’m really not a zombie fan, generally), the zombies in this series aren’t the traditional sort. But they still count!

4) Ghost – Ghost Hunt by Fuyumi Ono & Shiho Inada.

You can probably tell from the name that this series is about hunting ghosts, and it can be pretty chilling in places. Definitely a ghost story done right. There’s one less antagonistic ghost who shows up on a fairly regular basis, however, who’s one of my favourite characters in the series (and whose identity I will definitely not be revealing here, because spoilers).

5) Witch – The Half Life trilogy by Sally Green.

This series is all about a hidden magical society that’s split between “good” White Witches and “bad” Black Witches, who almost never mix except in order to hunt each other. Interestingly, though, the main character Nathan, is half White Witch and half Black Witch, and therefore distrusted by both communities. The characters in this are all really great, but one of my favourite things about the series is its world-building.

6) Fairy –Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson.

I debated choosing the Throne of Glass series for this one, as I haven’t read many fairy books, but then I remembered Peter Pan and his tiny companion Tinker Bell! And although I’ve read the original book, I thought I’d mention Tiger Lily here, as it’s fantastic, and Anderson’s portrayal of Tink is one of the best things about the book. Tinker Bell is the narrator of this re-telling, and it’s really fascinating to see how being a fairy effects her outlook on the events of the story.

7) Demon – Paladin by Sally Slater.

A book I only discovered recently, but which was surprisingly enjoyable. The main character in this book is training to be a Paladin – a warrior trained to fight demons. There’s also another character introduced early on in the book whose half-demon lineage plays a huge part in the story.

8) Angel – The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare.

Most of the characters in Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter books are part-angel, and there are even a couple of full-angels that pop up here and there in the series. The Infernal Devices trilogy, though, is my favourite of the lot. 🙂

9) Alien – Saga by Brian K. Vaughan.

Saga is an epic space odyssey in graphic novel form, and (since it’s set in another galaxy) pretty much every character in it counts as an alien to us. The reason I’m picking it here, however, is because of the diversity of its cast: There are an astounding number of different species that have shown up over the course of the series so far (and we’re still only five volumes in!). And also because it’s great. Really, really great.

10) Super-powered human – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

I haven’t read a huge number of super-power books (or, at least, not ones that don’t qualify their super-powers as some kind of magic), but one interesting one is the Miss Peregrine’s series, which has a cast of “Peculiars” – humans with strange powers such as floating, controlling fire, and so on. At one point we even meet a girl with a huge hole trough her abdomen… 😕

Summer is almost over, but there’s still time for me to post this before it becomes irrelevant! 😉 This tag was created by islandOFbooks, I believe, and I was (for once! 😀 ) actually tagged for it – by the lovely Cátia from The Girl Who Read Too Much! Now on to the tag:

1) Lemonade – a book that started off bitter but then got better

Since I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently, I’ll once again take this chance to mention The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan. I really didn’t enjoy the first few chapters, but once the story got going, it was an incredible read! I’ve written a full review of the book here, if you’re interested in checking it out. 🙂

2) Golden Sun – a book that made you smile beyond compare

Adventure Time with Fionna& Cake by Natasha Allegri makes me smile like a lunatic. It’s just so colourful and fun! I don’t know why I love the genderswapped Adventure Time universe so much, but I do, and this comic is Fionna & Cake at their best! 😀

3) Tropical Flowers – a book set in a different country

I have a lot of books that are set in countries other than England (especially America, China & Japan), but for this one I wanted to pick a book where the setting is a very prominent part of the story, so I decided to go with Mãn by Kin Thúy, which is set within a Vietnamese community in Montreal – and which is another book I’ve written a full review for (one of the first reviews I wrote)! You can read it here.

4) Tree Shade – a book where a mysterious or shady character was introduced

Sirius Black in Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling! He was such a suspicious character when he was introduced! And, actually, Remus Lupin was pretty shady, too, when we first met him (in the same book). Naturally, these two are some of my favourite characters now. 😛

5) Beach Sand – a book that was grainy, and the plot barely developed

The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi had its strengths, but the plot was definitely not one of them. This trilogy is nominally a dystopian series, but you can only tell that it’s a dystopian because the characters keep telling you it is – the society and the problems it faces barely come in to the story, while it focuses instead on angsty romantic drama. I’ve written another full review of this series here, if you’d like to take a look.

6) Green Grass – a character that was full of life, making you smile

Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen’s novel Emma. She’s an incredible snob, and she always thinks that she knows better than everyone else, but I love her – partly because of those qualities. She just ends up in so many hilariously awkward situations throughout the book, and it never fails to get me smiling. 😀

7) Watermelon – a book that had some juicy secrets

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare! The mystery of Tessa’s entire existence is something that will baffled me for the entire Infernal Devices trilogy – until I got to the end of the last book, where all was revealed. And it was absolutely worth the wait! One of the best conclusions to a series that I’ve read in a very long time.

8) Sun Hat – a book with a vast universe/setting

It only makes sense to pick an epic fantasy for this question, and – though it’s an obvious answer – the biggest, most in-depth setting I’ve ever come across is J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the setting of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (as well as a vast mythology, which is published in various places).

9) BBQ – a book in which a character was portrayed as a hunk

Almost every romance novel I’ve ever read! 😛 It was a difficult choice, but for this one I’ve decided to go with the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Damon is the hunk in question, and his relationship with Katy – the main character – is a whole load of fun to read~ ❤

10) Summer Fun – pass the tag on

I pass. 😛 Since it’s very nearly the end of summer, I won’t be tagging anyone else specifically. If you’d like to do this tag despite the incoming cold, rainy weather, then feel free to consider yourself tagged by me! 🙂

This game was originally created by emmmabooks, and it’s done the rounds both on booktube and on a lot of the book blogs I follow… I haven’t been tagged by anyone, but I was finally pushed to do this (I’ve been meaning to for quite a while, since it looks so fun~) when I read Josie’s post over at Josie’s Book Corner, which you should all definitely check out – she managed to pick out some really hilarious pairings. 😀

The basic rules are: Write down the names of lots of different book characters, and put them all in a pot together. Then mix them up, and pick them out two at a time. The two characters you pick will be paired together, and you have to decide whether you like it (Ship it) or hate it (RIP it). I’ve also come up with a couple of my own rules, as well – I wanted to limit myself to two characters per book/series, and I’ve got a total of twenty characters in my pot (which is the lid to my Cards Against Humanity cards~ 😛 ), so I’ll be making ten pairings overall.

So, without further ado:

Kenji (Shatter Me) & Arya (A Song of Ice & Fire)

My initial thought was a resounding no, but I think that this could actually work! Arya is so bent on revenge, and Kenji could definitely mellow her out a little, while still supporting her… I SHIP IT!

Briar is such a womaniser, and Chaol would probably be able to put up with that if there was any real chemistry between them (because, thinking of it, Briar is actually quite a lot like Celaena…), but I really feel like there wouldn’t be, so… I RIP IT.

Elend (Mistborn) & Tessa (The Infernal Devices)

These two would definitely make good friends – they both love reading, at least. Maybe? For now, at least, I SHIP IT.

Bella (Twilight) & Evvy (Circle of Magic)

Haha. XD Not a chance. Evvy is such a strong character, and Bella is just… not. These two would seriously hate each other.

Juliette (Shatter Me) & Nico (Percy Jackson)

No. Just, no. There’s no way that Nico would have the patience to put up with all Juliette’s issues. I RIP IT.

Jem (The Infernal Devices) & Vin (Mistborn)

This would definitely work! I SHIP IT! Jem is kind and charming – and frail enough that Vin would want to protect him (just like Elend!). I totally ship it!

Luna (Harry Potter) & Edward (Twilight)

Seeing inside Luna’s head would probably terrify Edward. And I really can’t subject Luna to being paired with such a creep… I RIP IT.

Harry (Harry Potter) & Percy (Percy Jackson)

This could definitely work (& I’m sure I’ve read fanfic of this pairing at some point~ 😛 ). The two heroes fighting together! And probably also complaining a lot about annoying villains who just won’t stay dead. If not romance, then they’d have an epic bromance, at least. I SHIP IT!

Tris (Divergent) & Gendry (A Song of Ice & Fire)

It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around Gendry with anyone other than Arya, so I’m not sure if this is just bias, but… I RIP IT.

I’ve been super-busy this month, with work and my trip to Iceland, as well as various other social commitments, but I’m pretty pleased with the amount of reading I managed to get done in spite of it all. 🙂 In total, I read nine novels in June, as well as four comic books. I also seem to be approaching the completion of my new year reading resolution challenges, which is exciting! The two that I haven’t quite finished yet are to re-read five books (so far I’ve on;y read two), and to read five books that showcase foreign cultures (only one left to go for this challenge!)… Anyway, this month I read:

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson. A dark and eerie re-imagining of Peter Pan, focusing on the character of Tiger Lily, and, interestingly, told from Tinker Bell’s perspective. This was an incredible book, and I’ve written a full review of it, which you can read here, if you so desire.

Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book 2 by Bill Willingham. This comprises the main series’ Storybook Love storyline – wherein Snow White and Bigby Wolf are sent on holiday together, where an assassin plots against them – as well as a few side stories, including some Jack and Boy Blue backstory, the tale of the Lilliputians, and a 2-issue comic where a reporter mistakes the Fabletown residents for vampires. This series is just getting better as it goes along, & I’m really looking forward to reading more. I’ve switched to the deluxe editions now, since they include more of the spin-off issues…City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. The second book in the Mortal Instruments series, where Clary, Jace & co. try to figure out who’s killing Downworlder children, and why. I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as City of Bones, but it was definitely worth reading. The tension between Clary and Jace is really well done, and Simon is growing on me a lot, although his relationship with Clary felt rather forced… At this point, I’m also really beginning to see what everyone means by Clary having really, really poor decision-making skills, but so far it hasn’t bothered me too much.Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett. A Discworld novel, in which Rincewind is sent to the Counterweight Continent in order to help with a rebellion. This book was hilarious, as Terry Pratchett’s books always are, and I read it alongside my friend Clare while we were on holiday together, which made it even more fun. I wouldn’t, however, recommend reading it unless you’ve also read some of the previous Rincewind-centric stories, as they’re directly linked… There’s a really great Discworld reading guide here, if you need help figuring it all out (as I often do!).City of Glass by Cassandra Clare. The third Mortal Instruments book, and the conclusion to the series’ initial storyline. Also the first book I decided to read for the #Rainbowthon, and I decided to count it as my orange book, even though I read it on my kindle, and I was already halfway through it when the readathon started… 😳 Anyway, I really enjoyed the book, and it was a great conclusion to the storyline, even though I felt that some of the elements (particularly the romantic ones) were a bit predictable. It’s got nothing on The Infernal Devices, of course, but it was still a lot of fun. I’ll probably take a break before continuing the series, though. 🙂

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. A parody of late 18th & early 19th century agricultural novels (e.g. the works of Thomas Hardy or D.H. Lawrence), wherein Flora Poste, after the death of her parents, decides to embark on a career as a parasite, and descends on her unusual relatives, determined to sort out their lives. Thematically, the book reminded me a lot of Emma by Jane Austen, though as a parody, Cold Comfort Farm was understandably much more ridiculous… It took me a little while to really get into it, but once I did, I found it hilarious. In regards to the #Rainbowthon, this book counted for both red and blue.The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. This was my green book for the #Rainbowthon, and it was fantastic! It completely sucked me in, and I managed to read it almost in one sitting (it would’ve been one sitting, if not for the fact that I didn’t start it until about 1am, and also work…). It follows Frankie, who is a sophomore at an elite boarding school, which has a secret boys’ club called the Bassets. Feeling excluded, Frankie decides to infiltrate the club, and everything just escalates from there. I initially picked this up on faith (because I liked We Were Liars so much), since I was under the impression that it was a revenge book, which isn’t usually my thing… but I’m so glad I was wrong! The book is heavy on the social commentary, à la George Orwell’s novels – super-interesting, and very well-written – but unlike those, the characters were really likeable, and the story was buckets of fun~! 😀Me & Earl & the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. The story of a boy called Greg, who is forced by his mother (by means of incessant nagging) to befriend a girl who’s just been diagnosed with leukemia, and consequently has his life ruined (kind of). This was a great, and surprisingly funny take on a cancer story, with really interesting characters and relationships, and an incredibly deadpan narrator. The narration/writing style was probably my favourite thing about the book: It’s fast-paced, and a lot of it is written in script-format, so it’s very easy to get drawn into the story… (This was not one of the books I picked out for the #Rainbowthon, but I did finish it while that was still going on (but only just), and it technically qualifies to be my yellow book – which means I managed to get all the colours of the rainbow except purple! 🙂 )Princess Ugg, Volume 1 by Ted Naifeh. The first volume in a series about a viking-style princess who goes off to princess school in hopes of finding a nonviolent way of ender her people’s war against the frost giants. I was beginning to get a bit slumpy at this point in the month, so I thought I’d pick up a comic to stave the feeling off – and this book was really fun! 🙂 The story, characters and concept were great, and I really liked the art, too. I’m looking forward to seeing where this story goes.Umbral, Book 1: Out of the Shadows by Antony Johnston. Another comic, this time about a thief who’s running from evil shadow monsters that seem to be killing everyone around her and taking their places… This was a strange, confusing story, and it didn’t really help that we were just dropped in in the middle of the action, which never really slowed down enough to explain anything. Apart from Rascal, the aforementioned thief, the story doesn’t stay with any characters long enough for us to really get attached to them, either, and unfortunately the character design meant that it was difficult to tell some of the characters apart…Umbral, Book 2: The Dark Path by Antony Johnston. The sequel, in which the storytelling improved drastically, the pace slowed down, and the main characters were finally identifiable. I really enjoyed this, which surprised me – but it was certainly a happy surprise!Ricochet by Skye Jordan. The third book in the Renegades series, which follows Rachel, the Renegades’ secretary/gopher/person-who-does-everything, and Ryker, a soldier on leave from Afghanistan, who’s called in as an explosives expert on a stunt they’re filming. This was a surprising hit, as I wasn’t too thrilled by the last book in the series! But Rachel and Ryker were both really great, sympathetic characters, and their relationship was both interesting and believable… Consider yourself warned, though: This series is definitely not for younger readers~ 😛The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan. The life story of a woman called Winnie – growing up in China, her disastrous first marriage, and how she eventually escaped from it. I read this mainly because my dad thought I’d like it – and he was right! The narrative was a bit slow to start with, as it took a while to really set the scene, but once I got to the part where Winnie began to tell her daughter about her life in China, I got very invested, very quickly. This book also features one of the most despicable antagonists I’ve ever come across: Winnie’s first husband Wen Fu is right up there with Joffrey from A Song of Ice and Fire and Dimitri from The Bronze Horseman in vileness…

November feels like it went by way too fast… & I didn’t actually do all that much reading in the latter part of the month, because the new Pokémon games came out, and I was first caught up in excitement, then in playing the games (which are awesome, by the way). Nevertheless, I managed to read a grand total of 11 books in November, as well as 3 short stories – and this is them:

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. I had so many feelings about this book that I actually ended up writing a mini-review, which you can read here.

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. Needless to say, I went straight on to the sequel, which answered all my questions (even the ones I hadn’t realised I was wondering about). I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the way Jem’s storyline seemed to be wrapping up, but that little niggle was thankfully fixed in the epilogue, and my only other problem with the book was the Will’s-greatest-hits montage at the end, which I thought was a little cheesy… But that was just a tiny, tiny thing, & easily overlooked. It does make me really, really eager to read The Mortal Instruments book now, but I think I need to take a little break (& maybe read some of the books that I already own) first…

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. A sweet, but sad contemporary road trip novel. I really loved both Amy & Roger, as well as most of the many, many people they met on their trip, and I particularly loved that Morgan Matson included loads of photos and reciepts and the playlists that they listened to…

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. Excellently written, & very thought-provoking, and though I liked the book a lot, I’m not entirely sure how I felt about the situation it presented… On the one hand, Maya & Lochan’s relationship was kind of squicky, but on the other hand, their relationship never really felt like one between siblings, even before they admitted their feelings, and I kind of wanted to root for them to find an escape together someday… My main problem with the way their relationship was portrayed was actually in the early parts of the book, when Maya was pushing Lochan for a relationship that seemed to scare him more than anything – but then again, somebody had to be the instigator (otherwise there’s no story), and reading about the instigation of an incestuous relationship is always going to seem kind of creepy… For those of you who’ve read the book already (or who don’t mind spoilers), feel free to check out my spoilery discussion post here. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. This book was such an emotional roller-coaster! So much tragedy, and then every time Tatiana & Alexander managed to get together, & things seemed to be going well for them, something would come up to drive them apart… 😦 I absolutely loved this book – the characters were so well-written (even the ones like Dimitri, who I really, really hated), & the drama was incredibly intense. There’s a slight cliffhanger at the end, so I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. A Beauty & the Beast re-telling, though is more complicated than a simple girl-meets-monster-and-redeems-him story, and it also has rather a dark edge to it, which I enjoyed – and a lot of Greek mythology! I liked the story a lot, even though it took me a while to warm up to the main character, Nyx, and I thought that the big reveal about Ignifex & Shade’s connection wasn’t quite as unexpected as it might have been intended to be… I think I may have officially restarted my fairytale retelling obsession now… 😉

Cinder by Marissa Meyer. The first book in the Lunar Chronicles, and a cyberpunk-Cinderella retelling. Really interesting and inventive, and I loved all the characters so much! 😀 The ending was a little abrupt, but that was the only real problem I had with the book, and I hope that the sequels will take care of any lingering dissatisfaction, even though they follow different characters…Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I’ll admit that I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Cinder (not enough Cinder/Kai 😉 ), but it was definitely a solid follow-up. The plot seems to be escalating dramatically, and the new characters are fun, too – although I don’t feel that I managed to connect with either Scarlet or Wolf as much as I did with Cinder and Kai… I did appreciate, though, that rather than presenting this second book from an entirely new perspective (as I had expected), Marissa Meyer included chapters from Cinder and Kai’s perspectives, too; building on the first book rather than starting over.The Little Android, Glitches and The Queen’s Army by Marissa Meyer. These are three of the novellas set in the Lunar Chronicles universe, and I figured I’d read them before getting started on Cress. They’re all pretty quick reads (naturally), and well-written and developed (especially considering how short they are… All three stories can be read online for free, and if you’d like to do so, then I’ve linked each one to the cover inages below:

The Little Android is set not too long before Cinder, and is a Little Mermaid-retelling about an android mechanic who falls in love with one of her human co-workers. Cinder herself appears briefly in the novella (in the role of the witch who turns Mech6.0 into a human), which was one of my favourite moments, and feel of the story is bittersweet.

Glitches is a direct prequel to Cinder, and is about Cinder’s childhood in New Beijing, the beginning of her friendship with Peony and Iko, and how she first discovered her talent as a mechanic. It was really lovely to see Cinder as a little girl, so unsure of everything in her new life, but this one was also pretty sad, and the ending was somewhat abrupt (though not unexpectedly so…).

Lastly, The Queen’s Army follows the childhood of one of the new characters who’s introduced in Scarlet, and I wouldn’t recommend reading it before you’ve read both Cinder and Scarlet (even though it’s kind of a prequel), as it’s super-spoilery. Also for that reason, I can’t tell you all that much about it! I did enjoy the book, but I felt that the narrative was much choppier than the other two novellas, and I didn’t like it quite so much…

Cress by Marissa Meyer. I loved this book so much! Definitely my favourite in the series so far – the plot seems to be really taking off (literally!), and I’m seriously excited for Winter, the last book in the series… Character-wise, Cress was adorable and incredibly relatable, and I really loved the relationship development between her and Thorne; I’m definitely getting more attached to Wolf and Scarlet, even though there wasn’t so much of them in this book; Jacin was an unexpected delight to read (and that scene in the Rampion when he and Cinder talk about Winter was probably one of my favourite scenes in the whole book); and Winter! I wasn’t expecting Winter to even show up in this book, but I am so glad that she did, and I can’t wait to learn more about her!Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson. This is the first book in the Fire and Thorns trilogy, and in the US I believe it is called The Girl of Fire and Thorns, so if you’ve heard of that one, then, yes, this is the same book. It was a little slow-going at first, and I didn’t enjoy part 1 all that much: I liked how realistic the main character, Elisa, seemed, but I didn’t much care for any of the other characters, and not much of the book’s main conflict had been revealed – in fact, much of part 1 was focused on Elisa’s insecurities. However, in the second and third parts the book really picked up, and (in addition to watching Elisa grow as a character, which was wonderful), I grew attached to many of the supporting characters, and the world and its conflicts were really fleshed out. 🙂Crown of Embers by Rae Carson. Elisa’s (continued) growth is incredible, and there are so many other characters that I came to love over the course of reading this: Some older ones like Hector and Mara and Belén, and some new ones, like Tristán and Storm (who grew on me like a weed, and won’t let go). I did miss Cosmé, though, and I’m still not a huge fan of Ximena – but her part in this book and the direction her relationship with Elisa takes is certainly interesting. Writing-wise, this was a lot faster-paced than Fire and Thorns, which made it a lot easier to get into, and the mix of political intrigue and adventure made the plot engaging right from the start.

This was such a great start to the month – I actually finished it in the small hours of the morning on the 1st November. I loved it so much… but I really hate this love triangle! It’s been making me feel all kinds of uncomfortable things. Will/Tessa still feels kind of inevitable to me (& I really love them as a pair), but the further I got into this book, the greater the sinking feeling in my stomach that there was absolutely no way that this ends without Jem getting his heart broken (& Jem is still my favourite). 😥 I suppose I shall have to wait and see…

Anyway! Non-triangular things I want answered in the next book: What is Tessa? How is she connected to Starkweather? What’s going to happen to Jessie (all the Jessie business just made me sad; I wanted so badly for her to turn out to be awesome)? What’s the deal with the clockwork angel? And a whole load of other questions that I can’t think of right now! Mainly, though, I’m just really glad that I didn’t read this series when it was published, because waiting a whole year for the last book would be some kind of horrific torture. 😡